Saturday, February 22
San Luis Obispo, CA
7:00 PM
UC Riverside
64
at
69
Cal Poly
Photo by: Carlos Puma
Men's Basketball's Late Run Comes Up Short In 69-64 Loss At Cal Poly
2/22/2014 9:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
San Luis Obispo, CA—When UC Riverside and Cal Poly square off against one another it is typically a defensive affair, and Saturday night was no different as the Highlanders held the Mustangs to 35.4 percent shooting on the night. But a 9-1 Cal Poly run midway through the second half, and a 27 of 35 performance by the Mustangs from the free throw line, proved to be the difference, as Cal Poly emerged with a 69-64 victory (box score).
The loss drops UCR (3-10) a full game behind UC Davis (3-8) for the eighth seed in the battle for postseason tournament positioning in the Big West Conference. The Aggies tipped at 10 pm PT in Hawai'i.
The Highlanders trailed by three at the break, 29-26, and for the first nine-plus minutes of the second half, it remained a one possession game. The Mustangs tried to take control with a 9-1 run midway through the period, going up by eight, 49-41 with 8:35 on the clock.
A Steven Thornton jumper ended the run, but UC Riverside was unable to get closer than five, and a few possessions later, Cal Poly was back up by nine, 58-49. The Mustangs scored again coming out of the four-minute media timeout for their first double-digit lead of the game, 60-49.
It was still an 11-point game, 62-51, with 2:42 to go when the Highlanders mustered up one final run. Thornton made a lay up with 2:23 remaining, and Sam Finley did likewise with 1:20 on the clock slicing the lead to seven, 62-55. Following a Dave Nwaba free throw, Finley drained a three-pointer making it 63-58 Mustangs. Finley recorded a steal on the ensuing Cal Poly possession, and Steven Jones' layup brought UC Riverside to within three, 63-60.
But that was as close as the Highlanders could get as Nwaba hit seven of 10 free throws down the stretch for the final margin of victory.
Chris Eversley led all scorer's with 22 points, and he was joined in double figures by Michael Bolden and Nwaba who added 13 each. Cal Poly out-rebouned UC Riverside 36-27 overall and 17-to-seven on the offensive end resulting in a 15-7 advantage in second chance points.
Steven Thornton finished the game with 21 points on eight-of-nine shooting, and Chris Patton added 14 to go along with eight rebounds.
The Highlanders have just one game next week as they host Cal State Northridge on Saturday March 1 beginning at 7 pm PT.
The loss drops UCR (3-10) a full game behind UC Davis (3-8) for the eighth seed in the battle for postseason tournament positioning in the Big West Conference. The Aggies tipped at 10 pm PT in Hawai'i.
The Highlanders trailed by three at the break, 29-26, and for the first nine-plus minutes of the second half, it remained a one possession game. The Mustangs tried to take control with a 9-1 run midway through the period, going up by eight, 49-41 with 8:35 on the clock.
A Steven Thornton jumper ended the run, but UC Riverside was unable to get closer than five, and a few possessions later, Cal Poly was back up by nine, 58-49. The Mustangs scored again coming out of the four-minute media timeout for their first double-digit lead of the game, 60-49.
It was still an 11-point game, 62-51, with 2:42 to go when the Highlanders mustered up one final run. Thornton made a lay up with 2:23 remaining, and Sam Finley did likewise with 1:20 on the clock slicing the lead to seven, 62-55. Following a Dave Nwaba free throw, Finley drained a three-pointer making it 63-58 Mustangs. Finley recorded a steal on the ensuing Cal Poly possession, and Steven Jones' layup brought UC Riverside to within three, 63-60.
But that was as close as the Highlanders could get as Nwaba hit seven of 10 free throws down the stretch for the final margin of victory.
Chris Eversley led all scorer's with 22 points, and he was joined in double figures by Michael Bolden and Nwaba who added 13 each. Cal Poly out-rebouned UC Riverside 36-27 overall and 17-to-seven on the offensive end resulting in a 15-7 advantage in second chance points.
Steven Thornton finished the game with 21 points on eight-of-nine shooting, and Chris Patton added 14 to go along with eight rebounds.
The Highlanders have just one game next week as they host Cal State Northridge on Saturday March 1 beginning at 7 pm PT.
| Current Big West Men's Basketball Standings (as of 9:15 pm on Feb. 22) | |||
| Seed | Team | W | L |
| 5 | Cal Poly | 6 | 7 |
| 6 | Cal State Northridge (late game vs. UC Irvine) | 5 | 7 |
| 7 | Cal State Fullerton | 4 | 8 |
| 8 | UC Davis (late game at Hawai'i) | 3 | 8 |
| UC Riverside | 3 | 10 | |
| Remaining 2014 Schedules | |||
| UC Riverside | UC Davis | ||
| Date | Opponent | Opponent | |
| Thursday, February 27 | OFF | vs. Cal Poly | |
| Saturday, March 1 | vs. Cal State Northridge | vs. UC Santa Barbara (ESPN2) | |
| Thursday, March 6 | vs. UC Davis | at UC Riverside | |
| Saturday, March 8 | at Long Beach State (ESPN3) | at UC Irvine (Prime Ticket) | |
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